I'm back! - Scramble Prep

Apologies for disappearing for so long.  Everything sort of fell off when Minneapolis had a great storm and our power went out (mine was only out for about 24 hours, but a lot of folks didn't have power for days).  Then I got pretty wrapped up in the business of summer and honestly wasn't cooking that much. Last week I went to Australia for a last minute modeling gig which was pretty amazing even though I was only there for three days (but gone for nearly a week because of the travel time).  I finally have a couple days off and I'm ready to get back in the swing of things. My roommate moved out so I'm trying to rebuild the kitchen and make time to nest and decorate.

With having such a busy lifestyle and just loving sleep, getting up an hour early to make a decent breakfast just isn't going to happen.  No matter how much I tell myself I will get up early, chances are I'll snooze until I only have 15 minutes before I have to leave.  If I'm prepared I can grab something and eat it on the way or when I get to work.  If I'm not stocked I usually just writhe in hunger pains until I'm allotted a lunch break,  which I obviously didn't pack because who has time for that?  I'm too cheap to spend more than $5 on lunch at the mall, so I usually succumb to a protein bar and a pepperoni pizza taquito from the convenience store.  This keeps my food craving under control but then I have the protein bar keep me full until I can get home and fix myself something decent to eat.  Which doesn't always happen. SO I've come up with a few things that help me save time and keep me eating throughout the day.

Pre-Mix a scramble:

The only reason I never make this in the morning is because it's a lot of work.  Cutting all the veggies, washing the dishes, I would HAVE to get up early.  I recently figured out that you can do that shit the night before.  GENIUS! Basically I just put in whatever I had in my fridge so substitute or eliminate as you wish.

Ingredients:

2 eggs

milk
salt & pepper

hot sauce (you can always add more)

kale - stemmed and chopped

green onions - chopped

red onion - chopped

cilantro - diced

tomatoes - chopped

cheese - shredded or shaved

peppers - chopped

Directions:

Crack eggs in tupperware, whisk in milk, hot sauce, salt & pepper.

Add veggies and cheese.

Close tupperware. Shake to mix. Refrigerate.

In the morning you can heat up the pan and dump this baby in there while you're getting ready.  The other day when it was done cooking in the pan, I wrapped it in a tortilla and put it in the toaster oven while I finished getting ready.  Then just grabbed it when I was heading out the door. 

I also did this with red potato hash browns!

A Default Meal

I spent about $40 at the coop the other day, wasn't able to make my med salad until yesterday, but it was well worth the wait.  I know what you're thinking, "FOURTY DOLLARS??!" I also had to stock up on some basic groceries as all I had at home was 3 dozen eggs, one tortilla and some granola.  I also was too lazy to run up to the regular grocery store to get my "Clean Fifteen" items, so I just bought them there and sacrificed a few bucks for convenience and splurged on a couple beverages that at the time I couldn't imagine living without.  I also intend on these groceries lasting me for the next 2 weeks. I also forgot to grab my receipt so I'll recite what I can remember I purchased.

1 loaf of bread
1/2 lb of coffee
1 quart of milk
4 boxes of annie's mac and cheese (they were one sale 4 for $5)
high ball grapefruit energy water
alô water
1 package of boneless chicken tenders (about $4.50)
handful of spinach
green onions
cilantro
red onion
2 roma tomatos
cucumber
1 small container of feta cheese (about 8oz)
lemon
1 cup quinoa from the bulk section


I have a couple staple meals that I know I will love that are inexpensive.  One of these is a quinoa Mediterranean Salad with lemon vinaigrette. (see bolded items above)  You can pretty much guarantee that I will eat this every day all summer without complaints or exhausting this recipe.  I originally happened upon this recipe through a friend a couple years ago and we made it with cous cous.  I started using quinoa because the protein in quinoa is complete protein, which means it abundantly contains the essential amino acids our bodies cannot make on their own.  This helps me not have a hypoglycemic breakdown at work and keeps me full longer.  Although feel free to experiment with other grains or make as an antipasti as it's pretty tasty either way.

Start making your quinoa.
Rinse it unless you want it to taste horrible. Put some olive oil in a pan and lightly toast the quinoa to remove some of the moisture, then add three cups of water, bring to a boil, turn heat to low, cover it and let it hang out for like 15 minutes.

While you're waiting for your quinoa start cutting up your veggies; cilantro, green onion, red onion, tomato, cucumber.  (I usually only use half a cucumber and we'll talk about the other half later).  Use as much cilantro as you want, don't worry about using the whole bunch, I've decided that's basically impossible.  If you have a cilantro plant, congratulations.

In a separate bowl, you can make some lemon vinaigrette via my hodge podge modified recipe I use.  Cut the lemon in half and juice into bowl using a spoon or whatever method works best for you to get all the juice out.  I usually have to filter out some seeds, too.  Add some olive oil, like one, two, three or four dollops idk.  It'll still be pretty lemony so don't worry about that.  You can also zest some lemon peal in there and add some pepper. Add it to the veggies or add the veggies to it and wash your bowl, knife and cutting board because you're all done with those.  Grab a big bowl for your quinoa and combine veggies and feta cheese and voila.

**No need to add salt due to the feta being so salty on it's own.  Add pepper to taste

I grabbed some chicken tenders too to prepare and add in or serve on the side although it's not necessary because it's so fucking delicious anyway.

An Introduction

I grew up on a beef farm in rural Wisconsin. I was raised on hamburger helper and frozen fish sticks (bless my mother's heart). This was a time before eating healthy and "green" was trendy and a meal without meat was not a meal at all. When my sister became a vegetarian in 7th grade, we prayed to God that she would come back to us. After high school I was living in Madison, WI, and I took my dad to a persian restaurant(RIP CASPIAN CAFE FOREVER.) They had several vegan and vegetarian options on their menu, because of this my dad ordered twice as much food convinced that there was no way he was going to get enough food. (He was unable to finish his double entree for the record.) He asked me if kabob was the next step after vegan and to this day I'm not sure if that was a joke or not.

Needless to say I was raised with a very interesting mindset about eating healthy. My mother has always scoffed at her coworkers who drink their "fair trade coffee" and "shop at the co-op" for their organic produce. Meanwhile my mother had her own garden and most the produce we had we grew ourselves. I think it's some weird superiority complex that my mother felt social pressure and had to rebel, I'm not really sure. What I do know is doing all your shopping at whole foods and the co-op is expensive as fuck, so yeah fuck those people I guess.

During Fair Trade Coffee week in Madison they had a viewing of the documentary Black Gold, which I found to be very inspiring and it opened my eyes to the importance of shopping fair trade, coffee specifically. Since this experience (which you should totally watch) I cannot support companies like Starbucks, Illy or Nestle with a clear conscience. I must buy my coffee fair trade (sorry mom). I also understand there are so many things other than coffee to buy fair trade and it's overwhelming. I simply cannot afford to buy EVERYTHING fair trade and others have judged me for this. Do what you can is my motto, don't not support one thing because you cannot support everything.

Last summer I reconnected with an old acquaintance from "the scene" in Milwaukee circa 2005. After several interactions on the internet we finally met up and it's one of the best things that has happened to me since moving to Minneapolis. Aside from being a fantastic friend, she has awoken me from my slumber of depressing boring meals like ramen and mac and cheese with a protein bar on the side to savory sweet potato burritos and korean barbecue bulgogi stir fry. She introduced me to the "Clean 15" and the "Dirty Dozen" which has helped me make much better decisions when grocery shopping and meal planning. When her and I are together we obsess over food blogs and new recipes we've tried. She also introduced me to yoga for the first time and I think my life is finally starting to come together. Rachel, if you're reading this, THANK YOU.

I'm 26 years old, 5'10", 125 lbs. PT Model FT Retail. I don't have a juicer or a blender. I haven't been to a whole foods in years. I can't afford those new wave trendy drinks in the beverage isle or vitamins from the co-op. I rarely eat out and if I do it's the dollar menu at Mickey D's or Taco Bell with the occasional splurge on pepperoni pizza taquito's from the gas station. I have literally survived on cliff bars for months. I am in a constant struggle to eat healthy and save money, which is kind of an oxymoron these days. Even if I knew how to garden, I don't have time. My metabolism is that of a 12 year old boy and I am self diagnosed with hypoglycemia (I passed out in a parking lot after eating a muffin for breakfast.) I've never been "well off". My life is in a constant state of which bills to pay late and direct deposit advance. I have a knack for worsening my financial situation whether by accident or unintentional self sabotage. When food I purchase goes bad it breaks my heart because like, I could have eaten that. I find it near impossible to utilize all of my groceries to make different meals that give my body energy as well as the nutrients I need while on a budget.

I am about to begin a documentation of what I buy, where I buy it from and why. In addition to what I use it for and whether or not it totally sucked. I'll include recipes and if I can get this scanner working, some actual hand written and physical documentation. Maybe you can follow me in this adventure and learn from my mistakes and at the same time save money, eat healthy and sustainably, not be wasteful and be happy.